Just a few weeks after the Biden administration unveiled its nursing home reform plans, which drew an association between, the American Health Care Association countered with its own evidence.
A new report released from the industry’s largest trade group showed that 72% of the more than 110,000 infection control focused inspections of nursing homes conducted from 2020 to 2022 were deemed “deficiency free.”
The report, released on Thursday, comes as the Biden administration’s nursing home reform seemingly places blame on nursing homes for the more than 200,000 residents and staff that died from COVID-19 while working and living in these facilities.
While COVID-19 deaths in long-term care facilities make up at least 23% of all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S., AHCA added the caveat that nearly 60% of nursing home resident deaths due to Covid occurred in the first seven months of the pandemic – before vaccines became widely available.
The AHCA report follows similar data that was released by the association last week, which showed the quality of care in SNFs was improving prior to the pandemic.
There were 8.7% fewer residents sent to the hospital during their nursing home stays since 2011, combined with a 7.8% increase in successful discharges back into the community since 2012.
Fewer than one in seven nursing home residents were receiving antipsychotic medication before the pandemic struck – a 40% decline since 2011 – as nursing homes improved 19 out of 22 quality outcomes measured by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, according to the report.
It also highlighted the positive impact nursing homes have had during the pandemic as well. Both long and short-stay residents saw significant improvements in key metrics. Long-stay residents saw a 15% decrease in hospitalizations, an 8% decrease in urinary tract infections and a 12% decrease in catheter use during the pandemic, while short-stay patients saw an 8% increase in functional improvement.
“Nursing homes should be recognized for their efforts during this once-in-a-lifetime global crisis, and as we continue to focus on improving the quality of life for our residents, lawmakers and health policy officials must also work with us to implement lasting change by providing resources necessary to further enhance care,” Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of AHCA, said in the news release.
COVID-19 ‘uniquely’ targeted nursing homes
Biden’s reform calls to the fact that the pandemic highlighted the tragic impact of substandard conditions at nursing homes, but AHCA thinks it’s time for nursing home caregivers to be ‘commended and supported’ instead of blamed.
During the first nine months of 2020, the number of nurse staff hours per resident day remained steady or increased slightly during the pandemic, according to the AHCA report.
Covid, however, ‘uniquely’ targeted the elderly population. Those with underlying conditions and the risk of mortality from the virus for those 85 years and older was 340 times higher than for those 18 to 29, the report said.
This combined with independent research that showed community spread led to outbreaks in nursing homes, shows that the pandemic put nursing homes in a difficult spot to come back from.
Still, over 730,000 nursing home residents have recovered from Covid over the course of the pandemic, the report showed.
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